Seinosuke Shinden: Prologue
A warrior must keep his head high, his mind and sword sharp and be keenly attuned to the natural phenomena of the world. A shinobi who doesn't follow both principles are thus destined to meet a bitter end. --- The season of autumn has shown itself to the world. The leaves of maple becoming a familiar orange hue, floating in the gentle breeze. To many, the season of autumn is seen as the most cherished, compared to the bitterly cold winter, the hot and humid summer or the torrential downpour of spring. The season of autumn also signified festivity, of which is the harvest of crops grown in the previous season. It is the autumn season that made it become one of the most well known icons of the Land of Maple. Located on another continent far from the five great nations. The village located within the Land of Maple, known to many as the Akisora Village, hosts the annual autumn festival, where millions attend from the neighbouring lands to celebrate the plentiful harvest of the New Years crops. It was late at night. The town was buzzing from activity as people came and go to try the food, playing carnival games as well as other such things. This however changes around midnight, the town grinding to a standstill, as everyone participates in a mass prayer which will be held to the gods of harvest, in gratitude of the New Years harvest and to ensure another bountiful cropping next year. In spite of the ongoing, one man was in the local bar drinking a shot of sake whilst reading the local newspaper. He and the bartender, who was cleaning a glass cup were the only ones who were in this deserted bar. Everyone else participating in the festivity. "Things are awfully quiet around this time of year. It's not particular polite to try and pry into my customer's business, but is there any particular reason why you're not out there having fun during this festival?" The man put the newspaper down to more or less answer to bartender's question, sake glass in hand. "I have some business to attend to out west." The man's calm yet monotonous reply to the bartender's question. As he took a sip of sake from the glass in hand, he reminisces of the events several days earlier --- Today was hot and humid in Reikaigakure. The village had been in a heat wave throughout most of the summer and despite autumn being just around the corner, the weather showed no sign of cooling down. The streets lay barren as everyone tried to stay in the cooler air conditioned indoors as long as possible, the heat being too unbearable to the everyman to set football outside. Over at the House of Shin residence, the patriarch Shinzui was sitting at the family table drinking an entire bottle of sake to his hearts content, appearing unfazed by the heat. Or he was so drunk that he didn't realise it, nobody knows. With him was his wife, Nakano Hyūga, who, using her left hand, was waving a fan towards her face in an effort to cool herself down from the heat and the youngest daughter Shinoka, who had her face buried in a bucket of ice water, another method of cooling herself down. "Good god it's so hot! Why did dad have to waste money on bottles of alcohol instead of something necessary like an air conditioner." Shinoka groaned. She was getting increasingly agitated from the heat. She was vacationing in the land of snow to escape the heat but was forced back home after recieving a message from her father, the reasons for the gathering are still yet unknown to her. She honestly wished she ignored it and carried on skiing. Nakano sighed in displeasure, understanding her daughters predicament, but yet whatever Shinzui called them in for had to be important. "Just hang on just a little longer Shinoka" A minute later and the sound of the door knocking could be heard from the kitchen table. A familiar voice rang out. "Hey Shinzui, it's me. Am I allowed in?" Shinzui was asleep on the floor, having collapsed from having one too many. He was in no condition to reply to the man in question. "The door's open." Nakano replied in steed of Shinzui. With affirmation, a man wearing a large, heavy looking black cloak came into the house. He didn't look at all bothered by heat outside. "Sorry I'm late, I had a bunch of things I needed to attend to." He took off the heavy black coat and placed it on the nearby coat stand and headed to the table, taking a seat with the rest of the family. "You're uncharacteristicly late Seinosuke. What were you doing? And how the hell are you not bothered by this heat!?, especially wearing that coat!?" "This summer season has has been unusually warm at this time of year. I've been stacked with orders for more metal parts then usual for the assembling of air conditioners. And in reply to the last question dear. My job literally requires me working in a hot warehouse. This heat is nothing." Seinosuke Kurogane. Born into Keikokugakure's prestigious Kurogane Clan, whose reputation is known as one of world's best blacksmiths, married into the Shin household when he took Shinoka, the youngest child and daughter of Shinzui Uchiha and Nakano Hyūga, as his wife. Normally, she'd be rather calm and collected, but even the husband can see the clear vexed look on his wife's face. "Well. Let's get onto pressing matters. Why did you call me and Shinoka for? And where are the others?" As soon as Seinosuke uttered those words, Shinzui woke up from his drunken stupor, pulling his body up from the floor and sat down on a nearby seat. "Well lets see... Shintoshi and Shinzō both had an assignment they had to attend to. Nobody knows where the hell Shino went of to. That brat is always getting himself into trouble. And Shinami had volunteered herself to nurse those that collapsed during the heat wave." The patriarch was able to speak a coherent sentence. Normally something like that would be an improbability for someone who's had way too many to drink, but for everyone in the room, it came across as no surprise, given Shinzui's drunken antics and his uncanny ability to somehow sober himself up. "Anyway, back on topic. What we're here for is that rumours of beings from another space-time have shown up in a country on a faraway continent. I'm tasking you two to investigate and report back. Oh and bring back some alcoholic souvenirs." Seinosuke and Shinoka looked at Shinzui with a dumbfounded expression. There was barely anything of note that he mentioned. It seemed like something he heard about from some bar the next town over, amongst a bunch of gossiping drinkers. "You seriously called me here during my vacation for something like this? I always knew you were senile but this is insanity!" It may be the heat getting to her, but Shinoka didn't at all look pleased by her father's proposition. She wished he did a little bit more fact checking. Pouring another round of sake for himself, Shinzui let out a rather toothy grin. The image look really out of character for the legendary Fang himself... or maybe not. "Fine then... I'll do it. I've already got my work done earlier than expected, leaving me with quite the empty schedule." Shinoka didn't look amused at her husband's response either. He didn't need to go out of his way just to make that good of an impression on her father. Hell, Shinzui might as well be the most carefree ninja of all time. Nevertheless, she sighed with a rather exasperated look. "Seinosuke. You seriously don't need to do this, but I'm not gonna change your mind on that. So do what you want." Drinking an icy cold glass of water, she emptied the cup in one sitting and preceded to stand from her seat. "Well, I'm heading off. See you guys in the next couple of days." She bid her family farewell and headed out, closing the door behind her. It seemed like she was going to resume her vacation, or at the very least, escape from this madness. With his wife's exit, Seinosuke begun discussing with Shinzui over the situation while Nakano grabbed a jar of ice cold tea from the kitchen and placed it on the table. "Please help yourself Seinosuke. It's important to keep yourself hydrated in this weather." Seinosuke took to her advice and poured himself a glass full of the icy beverage, while Nakano poured herself her own cup of tea. He took a sip from the glass itself whist focusing on the discussion with Shinzui. A delicious flavour of green and peach came from the liquid. --- Finishing his reminiscing, Seinosuke finished the glass of sake on the counter and put down the newspaper he was holding within his right hand. "Well. Looks like I'm heading out." Paying in cash to the bartender, he gave the old man a farewell, adorned his black coat and headed out the door, leaving the deserted bar behind him. The outside was drowned in noise from the hordes of people around. "As much as I'd like to stick around, I've still got some things to attend to." And thus, he headed off. Crossing the busy central district, he continued walking through the outskirts until he left this village's perimeter. Outside the village gates, Seinosuke gathers chakra within his body and performs the Body Flicker Technique, a basic ninja technique that allowed one to move at high speeds, disappearing within the forest itself. Category:Role-Play Category:Novel